last updated 04 August3 August 20052

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VCortex:  Cortex for Windows

(beta versions 1.1 and 2.2)

User’s Manual

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laboratory of Neuropsychology, NIMH

 

 

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS.. 2

1.  Introduction.. 6

1.1.  Cortex: A Program for COmputerized Real Time EXperiments. 6

1.2  Getting the latest version of Cortex.. 7

1.3  Technical Support.. 7

1.4.  History (you may skip this part) 7

2.  Hardware and Software Requirements.. 9

2.1  Two-computer Cortex (\VCWin32\VCSend.exe) 9

2.1.1  Basic "Send"  computer. 9

2.1.2  Basic "Receive" computer. 9

2.1.3  Operating Systems. 9

2.1.4  Graphics cards. 10

2.1.5  Data acquisition cards. 10

2.1.6  Sound cards. 10

2.1.7  Touch screens. 10

2.1.8  Serial connection. 10

2.1.9  Monitors. 10

2.1.10  Software. 11

2.1.11  Useful Web Sites for Finding the Necessary Hardware and Software. 11

2.2  Single-computer Cortex without graphics (\VCWin32\VCSingle.EXE) 11

2.2.1  Computer. 11

2.2.2  Data acquisition cards. 11

3.  Installation.. 12

3.1  Data Acquisition Board Setup. 12

3.1.1  Typical Keithley/Metrabyte DASH-16 settings. 12

3.1.2  Typical PIO24 or CIO-DIO24 settings. 12

3.1.3  Typical Computerboard CIO AD-16, CIO-DAS16/F, and CIO-DAS1602/12 settings. 12

3.1.4  PCI-DAS1602/12 settings. 12

3.1.5  PCI-DIO24 settings. 13

3.2  Graphics Board Setup. 13

3.3  Data Acquisition Interface Setup. 13

3.3.1  Spike Flip Flop Circuitry. 13

3.3.2  Thalamus. 13

3.3.3  Screw Terminal Interface Diagram for the ISA bus DASH-16 type boards. 14

3.3.4  Screw Terminal Interface Diagram for the PCI-DAS1602/12 board. 15

3.3.4  Screw Terminal Interface Diagram for the PCI-DIO24 board. 15

3.3.4  Screw Terminal Interface Diagram for the PCI-DIO24 board. 16

3.4  Sound Card Setup. 17

3.5  Serial Connection Setup. 17

3.6  Cortex Software Setup and Program Execution.. 17

3.6.1  Minimum Files Necessary to run Windows VCortex. 17

3.6.2  Installing VCortex 1.1 (Win95/98). 18

3.6.3  Installing VCortex 2.2 (Win2000/XP). 27

3.7  Uninstalling Cortex.. 35

3.7.1  Uninstalling VCortex 1.1. 35

3.7.2  Uninstalling VCortex 2.2. 35

3.8  Touchscreen Setup. 36

3.8.1  Hardware Setup. 36

3.8.2  Microtouch Touchware Setup. 36

3.8.3  Cortex Configuration File Setup for Touchscreen Operation. 38

4.  Using Cortex.. 39

4.1  Setting up the experimental conditions. 39

4.2  Item files. 39

4.3  Conditions files. 41

4.4  Timing files. 42

4.5  Using the ITEMS, CONDITIONS, and TIMING files in a study.. 42

4.5.1  Deciding on your Experimental Design. 42

4.6  Customizing Cortex with the Cortex.cfg configuration file. 43

5.  Running VCortex.. 44

5.1  The Main Menu Structure. 44

5.1.1  The File Menu. 44

5.1.2  The Edit Menu. 45

5.1.3  The Options Menu. 46

5.1.4  The Tools Menu. 47

5.1.5  The Run Menu. 47

5.1.6  The Clear Menu. 48

5.1.7  The View Menu. 48

5.1.8  The Window Menu. 49

5.1.9 The Help Menu. 49

5.2  The File Menu Dialog Boxes. 50

5.2.1 File->Load->Item File. 50

5.2.2  File->Load->Condition File. 50

5.2.3  File-> Load ->Timing File. 50

5.2.4  File-> Load ->Saved File. 51